Trainers
by The Procrastinating Bookworm
Summary: In which Becker tries to show Jess that not all trainers are created equal.


Becker loves Jess. Platonically, irrevocably, whatever you want to call it. Becker loves her shoes too, honestly. He loves the way her heels accentuate her calf muscles, and how they add those precious few inches to her height, placing her head perfectly against his chest when she hugs him. What Becker doesn't understand is her insistence on wearing those ridiculous contraptions in the field. He keeps suggesting trainers, and she keeps declining. He just doesn't get it. Sighing in exasperation, Becker stood up from the bench in the locker room to, once again, attempt to convince Jess to try trainers in the field.

Jess loves Becker. As much as she tries to be secretive about it, she's pretty sure most of the ARC staff already knows, save for Mr. Emotionally Retarded himself. Jess is willing to do anything for that man, but his latest campaign of trainers was just hilarious. It was never going to work. Heels love Jess and Jess loves heels. She loved the way the high heels made her feel; older, powerful, and slightly sexy. Not to mention the fact that, with her shopping habits, heels were by far the cheapest option. They took the longest to go out of style, were the truest to size, and the easiest to browse online, all adding up to less time in the store. In Jess logic, the less time in an actual store meant the less money spent. It might not be the most mature philosophy, but it worked for her. Jess knew explaining all of this to Becker was never going to work, and his attempts to get her into trainers were completely adorable, the highlight of her day even.

'_Speaking of…' _Jess thought as she lazily swirled around in her chair. "Becker." Jess greeted the soldier. "Come to convince me to wear trainers again?"

"Have I become that predictable?" Becker replied.

Jess laughed. "Maybe. Or maybe there haven't been any anomalies in the past two weeks, so there's no possible way you could be behind on paperwork."

"Ahh, she is as smart as she looks."

"Coming from anyone else, I would take that as an insult." They both chuckled at her last comment and relished in the comfortable silence that had settled between them. Jess contented herself with playing with her hair, while Becker leaned against her desk.

Becker spoke first. "Honestly Jess, what's so wrong with trainers?"

"Becker…" Jess sighed out "they're boring. All trainers are bulky, white and just plain. They're old people shoes. What makes you think I would ever wear something like that?"

Becker just smiled and shook his head. She had a point, and they both knew it. "Come to the locker room this afternoon, around 5. I'm going to show you just how wrong you are."

Jess tried to hide the blush that was beginning to creep up her cheeks. Come anomaly or not, she knew she would be there.

* * *

Becker always enjoyed a hard day of training, but even he could see that the intensity of that afternoon's drills was beginning to strain his men. Tired men he could deal with, but exhausted ones were no good in the field. Checking his watch, Becker gathered his men around and called it a day.

"Lorne, Ford, stay behind." The two sergeants exchanged worried glances, wondering what they had done to be on the wrong side of the Captain's wrath. They both knew he was a sensible and just man, but the Captain had a temper that could rival their Irish leader.

As if reading their minds, Becker told them to relax. This conversation had nothing to do with discipline or training; it focused more on the contents of their lockers. Becker knew them both to have impressive shoe collections, and he was dammed if Jess was going to win this little…disagreement.

As Becker began to ponder the best way to word his request, he failed to realize just how much time was lapsing, making both of his men squirm where they stood. "Sir?" Ford prompted.

Sighing, Becker decided a straightforward, honest approach would probably be best, screw the resulting awkwardness. "Your shoes, gentlemen. What can you tell me about them?"

"Sir?" Now it was Lorne's turn to be confused. Both he and Ford – and the Captain too, for that matter- were in their standard issue military boots. There was nothing to tell.

"Not these, your civies. The ones sitting in your lockers." Becker gave Lorne a pointed look, Lorne's locker was a mess.

"What about them, Sir?" Ford piped up, hoping to save his comrade from a lecture, or worse, a punishment drill.

"I was wondering if you could help me prove a point."

Both of the young sergeants looked completely lost at this point. Becker sighed again and figured there was no getting out of this now.

"Maybe prove a point was a poor choice of words. More like win an argument."

Things immediately fell into place for Lorne. Just yesterday he had seen the Captain and Jess Parker discussing trainers vs. heels and the conversation had become rather animated. Lorne managed to bite back the full on grin, but a small smirk found its way to his lips. The Captain just glared in his direction, again.

Ford still didn't get it. Lorne figured it was his turn to help out and repay the favor from moments before.

"Sir," Lorne started "does this, by chance, have anything to do with Ms. Parker?"

Now Ford got it. And now they were both trying to bite back laughter.

"Haha, yes, laugh it out. Now you see why I come to you. So, are you going to help me, or are you going to spend the rest of the day laughing?"

* * *

Jess hadn't been able to focus on anything since four o'clock that afternoon. Her mind kept wandering to ways Becker could possibly win this…disagreement. She was positive that she would be the one to come out victorious. It had taken her the better part of an hour while pretending to look busy, but Jess had decided that the only way she would let Becker win was if he paraded around the training grounds in a pair of heels. Bright pink – no, sparkly green- no, wait… Jess couldn't decide. She was so caught up in the absurdity of her mind that she failed to notice she was chucking…aloud. Whoops. Jess glanced at the clock, relieved to see that it was quitting time. She shut down her computers and made her way towards the locker room.

"Becker?" she called out upon entering.

"Back here" came the reply.

Jess rounded the corner and saw Becker, flanked by two of his men, standing in front of a bench and some lockers. She was confused, but refused to show it.

"It's five. I'm here. What are you so intent on showing me?"

Becker merely smirked as he and his men moved aside. On the bench were six of the most colorful pairs of trainers Jess had ever seen. There was a pair of plain purple, a pair of red-fade-orange with a black rimming, a pair of tri-shades with a kangaroo on the side, a pair with a checkerboard that looked like it had been colored by a child, a pair of blue and grey plaid, and finally a pair of neon green with black laces. Jess was in shoe heaven.

"Sorry about the smell, Lorne doesn't seem to know how to keep a clean locker. And lucky for me, Ford is a bit of a pack rat. Four of these are his."

Jess looked up at Becker's words. "These are men's shoes?" She turned to Ford. "These are your shoes? Really? Can I try a pair on?" Ford was a bit taken aback at her enthusiasm. He had heard tales of her bubbly personality, but to have it turned on him was an entirely differently story. Frankly, she was frightening him more so than that brontosaurus they faced last month. Ford was gaining more and more respect for the Captain by the second.

"Su-Sure. Help yourself, Ms. Parker." Ford stuttered out a reply, not failing to notice the smirks on the faces of both of his fellow soldiers. Lorne began to openly grin when he caught Ford's eye. Turning to Becker, Lorne said slowly "Sir, if it's alright with you, I think I should clean out my locker."

Becker just raised an eyebrow. "Might not be a bad idea. Thank you both for your help. I promise she won't run away with your shoes, Ford. 0800 sharp tomorrow."

Both sergeants turned away with small smiles on their faces. Not only was their captain human, but he had a soft spot for one Ms. Jessica Parker. Somehow, neither man thought it as a sign of weakness. With a small glance around, both boys had the same idea. Lorne decided to forgo his locker for another day and they both quietly made their way out of the locker room.

Becker took a seat on the bench beside Jess, who was staring off into space. "So, what do you think? Are trainers acceptable?"

Jess scoffed. "These? No way. They fit like clown shoes. How anyone walks around in shoes this big, I'll never understand. I mean, I could fit a whole city in here and still have room for my foot."

One glance at Becker's face told Jess she was rambling again. If she was being honest with herself, Jess was impressed. The pair she tried on was big on her, but they were comfortable, and fun enough for her to live with. But admitting that meant that Becker had won, and that wasn't acceptable.

"Thanks for trying Becker. I'll see you tomorrow." Jess smiled at him and waved as she made her way out of the room. Becker smiled exasperatedly and began shoving shoes back into Ford's locker. Sometimes, she really was impossible.

* * *

The anomaly alert had gone off just as the team had made it in the doors. While Becker was glad to be back in the field with his weapons and his men, it was always a weird day when he heard Jess' voice in his ear before he saw her in person. Thankfully, dealing with the Ceratops had been quick and easy. Several truckloads of leaves later, the large herbivore merely wandered back through the anomaly on its own. Unfortunately, it was Becker who was left with the necessary paperwork to pay for said truckloads of leaves. It was lunchtime by the time he had finished filling out every form twice, as it always is with government. Just a quick trip to Lester's office, and the next hour was all his.

Becker glanced up from the forms he was rechecking as the elevator doors dinged opened and did a double take. Jess was in front of her computer, talking to some tech, but her wardrobe took him completely off guard. Granted, seeing her in jeans and a flirty top was rare, but it wasn't unheard of. No, what surprised him was the fact that she was wearing trainers. Becker let a small smile grace his lips as he quietly made his way up to Lester's office.

Jess was sitting at her computer, running yet another full-system scan, when her chair suddenly dipped dangerously far back.

"Becker!" Jess scolded "Must you do that every time?"

Becker merely smirked.

"What are you doing up here anyway? Don't you have paperwork, or trainees, or something better to do than scare me half to death?"

Becker's smirk just got bigger. "I just finished my paperwork, actually. I was up here turning it in. Now it's off to lunch. See you in a bit."

Jess' jaw dropped slightly as Becker began to walk away. Did he really not notice? He was a soldier for goodness sake. She had worn her new trainers today just for him. It was his job to notice things like this!

"Oh, hey Jess." Becker turned and called as he reached the elevators.

"Yeah?"

"Nice trainers. Purple and orange? I must admit, I was expecting pink."

Jess beamed. "What can I say? They're not so bad after all."

"You up for lunch?"

"Sure." Jess grabbed her bag and slipped into the elevator just as the doors slid closed.


End file.
